Monday, January 11, 2010

Book Island Revisited

In
a previous article, I had discussed Book Island and the fact that the
owner had seemingly disappeared and Book Island seemed to be dying out.
I spoke recently with Selina Greene, sim owner, who has set the record
straight. I had previously been unable to reach her for comment when I
wrote the first article.
Selina explained this was due to the fact that her computer died, and
the one she was using was unable to accommodate SL. In addition, she
was also going through a complicated pregnancy. She and her new baby
and doing quite well now.

A
large extension to the Cartland Court area of the island had been
built, which would explain the many empty shops I saw when I was last
there. The island now has a 90% occupancy with many tenants remaining
and new vendors coming in.

In
2010, Selina, together with Arton Tripsa, are planning many things,
including a redesign of the public areas, as well as multiple events. A
google calendar has been installed in the main square for "Events on
the Beach." The addition of the calendar will provide residents with
the opportunity to plan and scheduled their own events. To date, 3
events are planned, including a Book Island party with DJ Grizzly
Silversmith, one of the residents.

The island has become home to quite a few new residents. One of the
groups includes Podcrafters, organized by Emz Mazie, Imarad Breen and
Insight Zadark. Members of the Written Word group will recognize Emz
Mazie's name (aka Emerian Rich). The group promotes Podcasting and
Marketing. In addition, they produce Podiobooks, serialized audio
books. These are available for free at http://podiobooks.com. Examples
of the podcasts will be shown on the TV screen in the main square. As
well, a trailer of Arlene Radasky's (Imarod Breen) book, "Mark of the
Druid," will be shown on the TV screen.

RL
romance writers, Melissa Mayhue (FaeWritr Bookmite) and Elaine Levine
(Vinnie Mimistrobell) hold a month SL Salon on the Island, held often
at Books at the Beach. During the past year, they have hosted RL
literary figures, Deidre Knight, Elissa Wilds, Deb Stover and Terri
Brisbin. Another resident is Nightmare Scribe, a writer and co-founder
of the award-winning Colorado Springs Fiction Writer's Group at
http://www.csfwg.org.

Over the next couple of weeks, new homes are being built for writers who would like to live in a literary community.

With the many plans in place, the future of Book Island looks, indeed, very bright and I look forward to becoming a bit involved with events there.